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Medieval Age is a good time to attack because of supply wagons, and because your economy will be developed enough to give you a large advantage after taking an economic city from the enemy. Also because Medieval Age is cool. Supply wagons prevent attrition and, more importantly, double your siege unit’s rate of fire in enemy territory.
The strong early German economy suits this plan nicely. With extra city production and early granaries you can reach the Commerce 2 cap with two cities and before Classical Age. In multiplayer this is effective against players who boom to Gunpowder or later. It is weakest versus an Ancient or perhaps Classical attack. This article assumes 1v1 play with Germans, but can be applied to teams and other nations with slight modifications.
When you attack earlier than your opponent it is important to take a city of economic significance. In Medieval Age this can be their second or third city, and on an arena map you might go for the capitol. Scout to find the best target. A city with 2 farms and a temple is not a good target. If your opponent has reached Medieval it will be a Large City (or if they are China). You will have sufficient siege (and supply) to take it down.
Start with Science, Civic, Commerce and build as normal. I like to get my food and timber close to +100 before building a market unless I have exceptional rares. You don’t need a great deal of early wealth to pull this off. A caravan and too many merchants can slow farm and citizen production more than we would like, but each game will have different circumstances.
When you reach +100 for food and timber, and have a market, research Science 2. Then plan for Commerce 2. I usually build a farm or two more than the +100 limit in anticipation. The 30 food completion bonus nearly offsets the citizen cost, and will not slow your commerce research alot. Build a granary as soon as is prudent and research Commerce 2. You will be at +140 food without any rares (+150 if you make 2 granaries and bison is really nice to have). You can get by with +110-130 for timber. Go higher if you anticipate resource problems for some reason, but remember that fewer citizens mean a faster Classical Age. Your population is around 21-24 when you research classical.
Now Classical Age. I make a citizen or two extra before classical to build a mine immediately. Your university can be delayed a little, but not much. Delay it if you have knowledge rare resources. Fill up your mine asap, and maybe build another if only for the completion bonus. 7-10 miners are appropriate, less if you have lots of metal rares. On some maps you are lucky to have a 6 man mountain within your territory and will need to be very prudent with your metal. 2-4 scholars allow for timely Medieval research (225 knowledge), this will depend on your rares among other things.
Research Military 1 when you reach the population cap, and send a citizen to build a barracks. Then research Military 2 (90f/90m) and start a siege factory and then a stable. Research herbal lore and start making your army. Resources generally allow for 3-5 LI, 2-4 HI, 2-4 LC, and 2-3 HC; it varies based on many things. If you have excess of certain resources, spend it. Make your 3 catapults quickly; they are slow building and slow moving.
Research Medieval Age when your army is nearly complete, and build a supply wagon. Start upgrading the troops you have most of. If you're certain that you will attack a small city, you can avoid upgrading your catapults to trebs, this can save you alot of timber and metal. Then attack. You should reach the enemy city around the 10 or 11 minute mark on a 2/3 player map.
Hit the city and reduce it asap. The most important thing is to protect your siege. I don’t like the alt-right click siege attack because it leaves your siege somewhat vulnerable to cavalry and ranged attacks. Better to assign your trebs to a separate group, and have your army overlap them as much as possible while moving and while attacking. I prefer to keep all my units out of city firing range and let the trebs do the work. Against Korea you will need to attack the repairing citizens. You will have a stronger army than a booming opponent, so if he attacks he will most likely go for your siege or supply wagon(s). Protect your siege at all costs; use cavalry to cut down ranged attackers and heavy infantry to protect from cavarly. You have a counter to every unit, use it.
As soon as you attack find out if your opponent is going to make troops, or concede the city and attempt to out boom you. Keep your scout busy and find out what hes up to. Find his barracks and/or stable and destroy them as soon as you have reduced the city. Most people's first instinct is to make troops, if they do this you're in good shape. You have significantly hurt his economy and can surely out produce him. Send reinforcements...cavalry and light infantry are your fastest units. Bring citizens to repair the city before it is assimilated. Soon you will have the defenses and production of the city on your side. If you can hold on to the city you will win.
If he is trying to boom and out-tech and you, start expanding your economy. You will have a resource advantage after taking his city. Make more scholars, and get science 3 so you can research the knowledge tech at the university. Create two more caravans even before the city is assimilated. They will generate lots of wealth with the increased distance and they need time establish a route. Provided you expand your economy in a timely manner, you can easily out-produce him and win the game. If he has made almost no military, heal your troops and send them on raids. Have your Siege attack his buildings that are in range. Take out any buildings you can target safely. Farms go down really fast. University is good too.
Whichever route he chooses you are in a strong position if you can capture his city. Note that if your opponent has also planned a medieval attack, you are in for an interesting game that is not within the scope of this article.
The same ideas apply to water maps, except you go Science then Commerce first, and build fisherman instead of farms. You might build a few farms and a granary; fisherman get expensive and you may benefit from the building completion bonuses and herbal lore. I tried this on Australian Outback and was able to attack with a comparable army at the 9 minute mark, and with lots of extra wealth. On water maps you might want to go straight for the capital, as they will likely not have invested as much in their second or third cities. Scout to find the best target.
To recap: Science 1, Civic 1, Commerce 1, Science 2, Commerce 2, Classical Age, Military 1, Military 2, Medieval Age
On water maps switch the first civic and commerce. If you strongly suspect (or scout) an early rush get Military 1 sooner. This will slow your economic growth though.
There is a replay of this strat here:
That game has me playing as Romans, but will give a good idea of what to do. I think I went Classical before Commerce 2 as Romans. Basically Germany has a stronger economy and earlier granary. I don't have any competitive games of me as Germans, as most matches have been a walkover with this strategy. I'll post a good one as soon as I can.
The strong early German economy suits this plan nicely. With extra city production and early granaries you can reach the Commerce 2 cap with two cities and before Classical Age. In multiplayer this is effective against players who boom to Gunpowder or later. It is weakest versus an Ancient or perhaps Classical attack. This article assumes 1v1 play with Germans, but can be applied to teams and other nations with slight modifications.
When you attack earlier than your opponent it is important to take a city of economic significance. In Medieval Age this can be their second or third city, and on an arena map you might go for the capitol. Scout to find the best target. A city with 2 farms and a temple is not a good target. If your opponent has reached Medieval it will be a Large City (or if they are China). You will have sufficient siege (and supply) to take it down.
Start with Science, Civic, Commerce and build as normal. I like to get my food and timber close to +100 before building a market unless I have exceptional rares. You don’t need a great deal of early wealth to pull this off. A caravan and too many merchants can slow farm and citizen production more than we would like, but each game will have different circumstances.
When you reach +100 for food and timber, and have a market, research Science 2. Then plan for Commerce 2. I usually build a farm or two more than the +100 limit in anticipation. The 30 food completion bonus nearly offsets the citizen cost, and will not slow your commerce research alot. Build a granary as soon as is prudent and research Commerce 2. You will be at +140 food without any rares (+150 if you make 2 granaries and bison is really nice to have). You can get by with +110-130 for timber. Go higher if you anticipate resource problems for some reason, but remember that fewer citizens mean a faster Classical Age. Your population is around 21-24 when you research classical.
Now Classical Age. I make a citizen or two extra before classical to build a mine immediately. Your university can be delayed a little, but not much. Delay it if you have knowledge rare resources. Fill up your mine asap, and maybe build another if only for the completion bonus. 7-10 miners are appropriate, less if you have lots of metal rares. On some maps you are lucky to have a 6 man mountain within your territory and will need to be very prudent with your metal. 2-4 scholars allow for timely Medieval research (225 knowledge), this will depend on your rares among other things.
Research Military 1 when you reach the population cap, and send a citizen to build a barracks. Then research Military 2 (90f/90m) and start a siege factory and then a stable. Research herbal lore and start making your army. Resources generally allow for 3-5 LI, 2-4 HI, 2-4 LC, and 2-3 HC; it varies based on many things. If you have excess of certain resources, spend it. Make your 3 catapults quickly; they are slow building and slow moving.
Research Medieval Age when your army is nearly complete, and build a supply wagon. Start upgrading the troops you have most of. If you're certain that you will attack a small city, you can avoid upgrading your catapults to trebs, this can save you alot of timber and metal. Then attack. You should reach the enemy city around the 10 or 11 minute mark on a 2/3 player map.
Hit the city and reduce it asap. The most important thing is to protect your siege. I don’t like the alt-right click siege attack because it leaves your siege somewhat vulnerable to cavalry and ranged attacks. Better to assign your trebs to a separate group, and have your army overlap them as much as possible while moving and while attacking. I prefer to keep all my units out of city firing range and let the trebs do the work. Against Korea you will need to attack the repairing citizens. You will have a stronger army than a booming opponent, so if he attacks he will most likely go for your siege or supply wagon(s). Protect your siege at all costs; use cavalry to cut down ranged attackers and heavy infantry to protect from cavarly. You have a counter to every unit, use it.
As soon as you attack find out if your opponent is going to make troops, or concede the city and attempt to out boom you. Keep your scout busy and find out what hes up to. Find his barracks and/or stable and destroy them as soon as you have reduced the city. Most people's first instinct is to make troops, if they do this you're in good shape. You have significantly hurt his economy and can surely out produce him. Send reinforcements...cavalry and light infantry are your fastest units. Bring citizens to repair the city before it is assimilated. Soon you will have the defenses and production of the city on your side. If you can hold on to the city you will win.
If he is trying to boom and out-tech and you, start expanding your economy. You will have a resource advantage after taking his city. Make more scholars, and get science 3 so you can research the knowledge tech at the university. Create two more caravans even before the city is assimilated. They will generate lots of wealth with the increased distance and they need time establish a route. Provided you expand your economy in a timely manner, you can easily out-produce him and win the game. If he has made almost no military, heal your troops and send them on raids. Have your Siege attack his buildings that are in range. Take out any buildings you can target safely. Farms go down really fast. University is good too.
Whichever route he chooses you are in a strong position if you can capture his city. Note that if your opponent has also planned a medieval attack, you are in for an interesting game that is not within the scope of this article.
The same ideas apply to water maps, except you go Science then Commerce first, and build fisherman instead of farms. You might build a few farms and a granary; fisherman get expensive and you may benefit from the building completion bonuses and herbal lore. I tried this on Australian Outback and was able to attack with a comparable army at the 9 minute mark, and with lots of extra wealth. On water maps you might want to go straight for the capital, as they will likely not have invested as much in their second or third cities. Scout to find the best target.
To recap: Science 1, Civic 1, Commerce 1, Science 2, Commerce 2, Classical Age, Military 1, Military 2, Medieval Age
On water maps switch the first civic and commerce. If you strongly suspect (or scout) an early rush get Military 1 sooner. This will slow your economic growth though.
There is a replay of this strat here:
That game has me playing as Romans, but will give a good idea of what to do. I think I went Classical before Commerce 2 as Romans. Basically Germany has a stronger economy and earlier granary. I don't have any competitive games of me as Germans, as most matches have been a walkover with this strategy. I'll post a good one as soon as I can.
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